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ABSTRACT
The long-term sustainability of wildlife tourism depends on integrating visitor demands with resource management, requiring an understanding of tourist motivation. Managing the conflict between access to the animals and welfare, however, may diminish the experience for tourists. This paper identifies trade-offs tourists are willing to make between access and animal welfare, associated with feeding habituated bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops sp.) in Monkey Mia, Western Australia. Using a choice modelling technique, we were able to determine monetary values of visitor experiences. Compared to the current guaranteed interaction with dolphins (and a daily resort entrance fee), respondents were willing to pay significantly higher hypothetical entrance fees to avoid a decrease in proximity to, or probability of, the dolphin interaction. However, negative impacts on dolphin welfare had a negative impact on visitor utility. Over 80% of visitors (n = 244) accepted management regulations resulting in decreased time with and proximity to dolphins, if those addressed welfare concerns and were communicated clearly. Thus, while visitors placed the greatest value on the proximity and predictability, they were willing to trade off these aspects if they improved dolphin welfare. We provide management suggestions based on these results.
在游客与驯化海豚互动背景下的接近动物和动物福利
管理接触动物和福利之间的冲突可能减少游客体验，本文就西澳大利亚蒙奇米亚惯于投食宽吻海豚确认游客愿意做出的权衡。以选择模型法确定游客体验的货币价值，相比当前保证与海豚互动，受访者愿意付明显较高的门票以避免减少互动。但海豚福利的负面影响对游客效用有负面影响。若管理规定提出福利问题并清晰传达，超过80%的游客接受由此减少的接近时间。游客愿以最重视的接近和可预测性为交换改善海豚福利。本文根据结果提出管理建议。
Acknowledgments
We would like to thank the Department of Parks and Wildlife (formerly Department of Environment and Conservation) for their support throughout the study, as well as Monkey Mia resort management, staff and tour operators who facilitated the survey. We would also like to acknowledge Dr Jan Lindstrom for the support throughout this project, critical reading and discussions. Finally, we would like to thank Kate Hickey, Jen Freer and Walter Hamilton.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Additional information
Notes on contributors
Lydia Bach
Lydia Bach completed her BSc (Hons) with MSc in marine and freshwater biology at The University of Glasgow in 2013. Bach is now pursuing a doctoral degree at Queen's University Belfast focusing on biodiversity and ecosystem service sustainability in temperate intertidal habitats.
Michael Burton
Michael Burton completed a first degree in economics from Bath University, followed by a masters and PhD from the University of Manchester. His research is largely related to applying non-market valuation to environmental assets.